Youngevity Stock Buzzing on Hemp Deal

The company will purchase CBD processing firm Khrysos Global

E-commerce concern Youngevity International Inc (NASDAQ:YGYI) is one of the top performers on the Nasdaq today, after the company inked a deal to purchase Khrysos Global, a Florida-based firm that specializes in hemp-based CBD processing equipment. In addition, Benchmark lifted its price target on YGYI stock to $14 from $9 -- nearly double Tuesday's close.

YGYI experienced a dramatic spike in October, more than tripling in a month amid optimism ahead of Canada's legalization of recreational weed. The shares peaked at $16.25 on Oct. 16, but subsequently gave back most of those gains, falling as low as $4.40 on Dec. 26. Since then, however, YGYI shares have staged an impressive rebound, retaking their 40-day moving average, but could find a speed bump in the $8.13 region, which represents half the aforementioned high. At last check, the equity was 11.4% higher at $8.10.

Options traders are flocking to the stock today, too, with the 1,354 calls exchanged more than 14 times the average intraday volume.The February and March 10 calls are most popular, with buyers of the options expecting YGYI to rally into double-digit territory before the contracts' respective expiration dates of Feb. 15 and March 15.

Short sellers could be getting nervous, too. Short interest jumped 26.2% in the most recent reporting period, with the roughly 560,000 shares sold short -- representing a healthy 10.1% of the stock's available float. It would take bears nearly three days to unwind their pessimistic positions, at the security's average daily trading volume.